Tractor-truck gearing



- June 11, 1929 J. A. M GREW TRACTOR TRUCK GEARING .Filed July 8, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet lllf/Illlz 0 0 j 5 Q 05 ATTORNEYS June 11, 1929.

.1. A. M GREW -TRACTOR TRUCK GEARING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 8, 1925 Patented June 11 1929 UNITED STATES JOHN A. MCGREW, F ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO BETHLEHEM STEEL COM- PATENT OFFICE.

PAN Y.

TRACTOR-TRUCK GEARING.

Application filed July 8, 1925. Serial No. 42,161.

My invention relates to connectible and disconnectible gearing of a type peculiarly suitable for connecting a source of power to a driven member, and more particularly my invention relates to a system of gearing which is peculiarly suitable for connecting an engine or motor to a driven member such an axle of a railway vehicle.

In my application, Serial No. 732,484, filed August 16, 192 1, I disclose and claim a system of gearing for connecting and disconnecting an auxiliary motor, for example, a steam engine, with respect to a driven shaft or member, for example, the axle of a railway vehicle. The system of'gearing disclosed and claimed in said application is characterized by the presence of a tumbler gear which is maintained constantly in mesh with a driving gear and which moves into mesh with the driven gear wholly due to movement being imparted to the driving gear in one direction. In order to prevent the tumbler gear from merely spinning about its axis when the driving gear is turned as stated, I employ a rack member which engages with the tumbler gear when the latter is in demeshed position, the rack member serving to restrain free rotary movement of the tumbler gear about its axis, whereby, when the driving gear is turned in one-direction, movement of the tumbler gear on the rack causes the latter and its carrier to move angularly in order that the tumbler gear may mesh with the driven gear. Mypresent invent-ion relates to an improvement upon the system of gearing and restraining means for the tumbler gear disclosed and claimed in my application aforesaid. In accordance with my present invention, I provide a rackmember for engagement with the tumbler gear when the latter is in its demeshed position so that when the driving gear is turned in one direction the tumbler gear and its carrier will be moved angularly in order to mesh the tumbler gear with the driven gear, and the rack member has a pawl pivoted thereto which is adapted to be brought into engagement with a suitable abutn'ientsurface on the carrier when the tumbler gear is meshed with the driven gear, the carrier cooperating with the pawl, when the tumbler gear moves in a demeshing direction, to move the rack so that the teeth thereof will not engage with the teeth of the tumbler gear until the tumbler gear and its carrier have moved angularly in a demeshing direction to a predetermined extent. In other words, one of the principal objects of my present invention is to control the time at which engagement of the rack member with the tumbler gear shall take place when the latter moves in a demeshing direction, in this way, assuring that the tumbler gear shall move to its predetermined position and that the rack member shall be properly engaged with the teeth of the tumbler gear when the latter is in said position. Y

These and other objects are accomplished by the apparatus shown and described as will be apparent from the following speci- "lication and the accompanying drawings,

forming which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view show ing my improved gearing;

Fig. 2 is a vertical and fragmentary sectional view of apparatus shown in Fig. 1; and V Figs. 3 and 4 are'diagrammatic views showing operative relations of my apparatus.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, I show a suitable supporting structure, at 10, provided with bearings Hand 12 for driving and driven shafts or members Band 14, respectively. The member is specially intendedfor sup orting engine cylinders or motors (not s IOWD) and the shaft 13 is a driven shaft or crank shaft of such motors or engines. The shaft 14 is a load bearing axle of a railway vehicle.

The driving and driven shafts or members 13 and 14 carry driving and driven gears 15 and 16, respectively, the driving gear being constantly in mesh with a tumbler gear 17 pivotally mounted on a carrier 18 which is movable angularly with respect to the axis'of the driving shaft 13 in order to move the tumbler gear 17 into predetermined meshed and demeshed respect to the driven gear '16.

A spring 19 has one end connected to the frame or support 10 and the other end con-. nected to the carrier 18, this spring tending to move the carrier 18 in a demeshing direca part of this application, in

tion. A stop of any suitable type is car:

positions with ri ed by the frame or supporting structure 10 and serves to limit movement of the carrier in a demeshing direction.

With the gearing in the position shown in Fig. 2, if it desired to mesh the tumbler gear '17 with the driven gear when driving gear 15 is moved in a clockwise direction, it is necessary to restrain free retary or spinning motion of the tumbler gear 17. Hence, I provide rack member 21 having teeth 21 arranged to engage between teethof the tumbler gear 17 when the latter is in its predetermined demeshed po lion, as shownin Fig. 2. The rack member is pn .otally connected to the supporting structure orv housing 10, at 22,- the axis of the pivot beingproferably disposed forwardly ofthe axes of. the gears 15, 1G andv 17. irspri t, or other. suitable biasing means, 28 has one end-connected. to the support 10 and the other end connected tothe rack incomes-'21 at theendther'eof opposite to its pivoted. end,

thespring serving tonormally bias the raclr.

member for angular movement toward the tumbler gear. [A stop 21 is provided for limiting angular IHOVGlTlOlll of the rack membertoward the'tumblcr gear to predetermined extent.

YVith the apparatusso 'lar described, it W1ll be-apparent that, upon Cl()Cl\. 'lS{. move merit of the driving. gear 15, the tuinbl-r-r (AOL?- clockwise in order to bring the tumbler gear 17 V into'mesh with the driven gear. 16.

Owing to the fact that the tmnbler 17 and the carrier 18 possess a considerable masseffect, inertia may be relied upon to .carry the tumbler gear 17 into initial engagemcntv with. the driven gear 16, even though disengagement of the tumbler gear 17 from the racl zteeth 21 shall. have taken place before such initial engagement.v As a matter of fact, although it would be possible to make the disengagement of the tumbler gear fromthe raclr teeth 21 overlap the initial cngagementof the, tumbler gear with the driven gear 16, Iprefer that the tumbler gear shall be entirely disengaged from thc.

rack teeth 21 before initial. engagement thereof Withthe vdriven gear takes place. It will be apparentthat-the arrangemcntof the gears 15., 16. and 17 is such that, with rotation ofthe gears in the directions'indicated by the arrows, and as the driving :gear

15 is moving or tends to moveat a greater peripheral speedthan the driven gear 16, the

be ng tumbler gear 17 tends to crowd or mesh with respect to the driven gear 16 due entirely to the transmission, that is, this arrangement of gearings assures that a portion of the power applied to the driving gear 15 shall bee tive to complete the act of meshing i i tumbler gear 17 with the driven gear 16 an d to maintain the latter gears in meshed relation as long as the gear 15 is the driving gear. f-Vhen the tumbler gear 17 is moved its domeshed position, a indicated in'llig. 2, it sdesirable tl'at this movement shall take place readily and" also that the member '21 shall be brought into proper lation with respect thereto in a certain and facile manner. To this end, Ihave provided displaceable spacing means between the .ltt'li iember and the carrier 18,-tl1is me be coming effective when the tumbler gr r 17 is meshed with the driven gear 16 to positivelvspace the rack member 21 from he tumbler gear 17 so that movemcutof the tumbler gear and its carrier. in ademee adirection to a predetermined extent n H freelyv take place without the teeth of the tumbler gear coming into contact with the teeth of the rack member. i V

More particularly, for the purposes just stated, 1 show a pawl member 25 pivoted at 26 w-i1 respect to the: rack member 21, the pawl havi a depending portion 27 which extends downwardly and to the driven gear side of the normal to therack member and intersecting the axis of the pivot 26. 'The depending portion 27 of, the pawl terminates in a lower abutment surface 28 which is adapted, to coact .witlr an, upper abutment surface 29 carried by a portion 30 of the carr1erl8. Asshown 1n..F1g. 2, the'portion 30 also has a lateral surface 31 which engages the depending portion 27 at the side andits carrier 18 will be moved. angularlv in a clockwise direction to mesh the tumbler gear with the driven gear 16. While the tumbler gear and its carrier are moving in. thisydire'etion', the pawl -member 25.Wlll be tilted forwardly-and the abutment surface 28 will be hi'oughtinto cooperative relation with the abutment:surface 29 :when the tumbler gear 17- is fully meshed with the driven'rgear 16, this position of the pawl shown in Fi 3., \Vhen the tumbler gear- 17 and the carrier 18 move in a counterclockwise direction, or in a demeshing direction, the pawl member 25 and the cooperating portion 30 of the carrierserve to keep the rack member 21 spaced from the tumbler gee-r17 until movement in the demesh ng d rection is almost completed. As may be seen from Fig, 21-, such movement results in surface 22) passing beyond the abutment surface 28, the pawl 25 slips off the portion and the spring 23 is then immediately effective to cause the rack member 21 to move toward the tumbler gear 17 in order to mesh rack teeth 21 between ,eeth of the tumbler gear 17. In this way, it is assured that movement of the tumbler gear in a demeshing direction shall not be interfered-with by the restraining means until such demeshing movement is substantially completed, and the arrangement of mechanism also assures that .the rack member shall be so positioned and forces shall be so. applied thereto that the rack teeth 21 may be readily engaged between teeth of the tumbler gear 17 when the latter reaches its predetermined demeshed position.

The depending end27 ofthe pawl 25 tends normally to cause the latter to move in a clockwise direction about its-pivot 26, this clockwise movement being prevented .by an abutment portion 32 carried by the pawl member and a coacting abutment portion carried by the rack member 21, the parts 32 and 33' cooperating to limit clockwise movement ol the pawl 25 so that the abutment surfaces 28 and 29 may come into proper coactive relation. Attainment. of the latter relation is, of course, facilitated by the eccentric weighting effect of the pawl member 25 tending to cause the latter to move normally in a clockwise direction, as heretofore described. i

While 1 have shown my invention in but one fornnit will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from .the

spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed there upon as are imposed. by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

51; In a gearingmechanism, the combination o'l i'a stationary frame, a driving gear,

a driven gear, a tumbler gear constantly in mesh with said driving gear and normally in demeshed relation with respect to said driven gear, a. bearing member on said trame and fixed relatively to said stationary frame, a restraining member rotatably mounted on said bearing member and normally engaging the periphery of saidtumbler gear to restrain the free movement of same about its'axis, whereby upon. rotation of said driving gearm one direction said tumbler gear is caused to bemotedinto meshed relation with respect to said driven gear, and means inefl'ect-ive during the move.- ment of the tumbler gear toward its meshed position with respect to the driven gear for preventing the engagement of said restraining member-with said tumbler gear during a predetermined movement of the latter toward its normal position.

2. In a. gearing mechanism, the combina tion of a driving gear, a driven gear,'a tumbler gear constantly in mesh with said driving gear and normally in demeshed relation with respect to said driven gear, a carrier member for said tumbler gear, a restraining member normally engaging the periphery of said tumbler gear "torestrain; the :free

movement of same about its axis, whereby upon rotation of said driving gear in one direction said tumbler gear is caused to be moved into meshed relation with respect to said driven gear, and means ineffective during the'movement of the tumblergear toward its meshed position with respect to thedriven gear adapted to eo-act with said carrier member for preventing the engagement of said restraining member withsaid tumbler gear during a predetermined mov'ement of the latter toward its normal position. I

3. In gearing mechanism, the combination of a driving gear, a driven gear, a tumbler gear meshing with the driving gear, a can rier for the tumbler gear, means for biasing the carrier for movement away from the driven gear, a stop for limiting said movement, a movable rack for'engaging with the tumbler gear when the carrier is in engage ment with said stop, whereby,g when the driving gear is turned in one direction, the carrier and its tumbler gear will be trans,- lated angularly in order to mesh the tumbler gear with the driven gear, means forv normally biasing the rack toward the tumbler gear to a predetermined extent, means rendered effective during the final stage of 'enmeshment of the tumbler gear with the driven gear for mparting movement to the rack during the initial period of demeshing movement of the carrier and of the tumbler gearto preventengagement of the rack with the latter gear, and means dependent n on. demeshing movement of the carrier an the tumbler gear to a predetermined extent to renderv the last-named means ineffective,

whereupon the biasing mealls for the rack becomes effective to cause the latter to engage the tumbler gear. r

4. In gearing mechanism, the combination of a driving gear, a driven gear a tumbler j gear in constant mesh with the driving gear, a carrier for the tumbler gear for confining movement of the latter to predetermined demeshed andmeshed positions with respect to the driven gear, a pivoted rack engaging with thetumbler gear wh'en the latterisan its-,demBShed position, spring means for eausingtheraclrto move toward the tumbier gear, and means for limiting the lastnanied movement;

5. In gearing mechanism, the combination.

of a driving gear, a vdriven gear, a tumbler gear constantly in mesh with the driving gear, a carrier for the tumbler gear for confining movement of the latter to predeter- V mined'dem'eshed andwmeshed positions with respect to the driven gear, a member overlying the tumbler gear an'd pivoted about an axis disposed :lorwardly ot the axes of said gears,said member having rack teeth. v for engagement with the tumbler gear when .7 thelatter is in demeshed position, means for biasing'said member for movement toward :the, tumbler gear, meansfor limitingythe last-named movement, and a pawl pivotally connected to said member and having' a lower'abutment Sll1fZl-C,fl projection on the carrier having an upper abutment, surface adapted to engage beneath the lower abutment suriace duringthe period oi iinal'enmeshmentof the tumbler gear *with the dr vengear, said pawl serving to space the of a'driving geaigfa driven gear, a tumbler Igear constantly in mesh with the driving gear, a carrier for the tumblergear for con lining D'KOYQIHQZTE- oi the latte-r to predete'z Qmined meshed and demeshed,positions with respect to thedrivengear, a rack member haviu teeth ior en 'a ement'with the tumblerear when the latter is in its demeshed pos tion, means for bias ng the rack member toward the tumbler gearto a predeter mined extent, and spacing meansrendered effective between-the rack member-and the carrier during the period of-final enmeslr nient of the tumbler gear'with the driven- "gear in order'that the rack member may be maintained out of engagement with th e tumblergear, when the latter moves'in a demeshmg direction, until movement 1n the latter directionhastalgen place'to a predetermined extent.

' 7; In gearing mechanism, the" combination of a driving gear, a driven gear, a tumbler gear constantly in mesh with the driving gear, a-earrier' 'tor' the tun'ibler -for confiningmove'ment otthe latter to a predeterj mined 'meshed and demeshedpositions with respecttot-he driven gear, a pivotally mount:

ed ='raek,member-,a spring for moving the rack member a-ngularl-y about its pivot to engage the teeth; thereof with the tumbler gear when the latter is in demeshed position, means iorl'nniting angular movement of the rack member due to thelspring, a pawl plvotally connected to the rack member and havinga lower portion which extends downwardly and to the driven gear side of it pivot and said pawl being provided withva' lower abutment surtace,"a portion carried by the carrier and formed with a lateral surface adaptedte engage with the pawl laterally at the side of the-latteradjacent to the pivot axis Wvhen thetumbler gear is in demeshed position and with an upper abutment surface which is adapted to engagebeneath-the lower abutmentsur-tace of the pawl when the'tumbler geariis meshed-with the'driven gear, said portion of the carrier andsaid pawl cooperating to maintain the rack member spaced from the tumbler gear when the latter moves in ademeshing direction until the upper abutmentsurface of said portion moves by the lower abutment surface of the pawl whereupon the rack member is free to move to engage with the tumbler gear and the pawl e gages' with said portion laterally.

8. In gearing mechanism, the combination of a driving gear, a driven gear, a tumbler gear constantly *in mesh with the driving gear, a'c arr c. ingmovement of the latter to predetermined dem-eshed and meshed positions with respect tothe driven gear, spring means normally tendingto movethe carrier toward demeshed position, a pivoted rack for engagement with the tumbler gear'whenthe latter is in demeshed POSlt-IOD, whereupon, when thedriving gear is turned in one'direction, the tumbler and its carrier are translated to 'meshthe tumbler gear withathe driven gear,

a pawl pivotally'-connected 'to the rack, means carried by the carrier for engagement,

vwith the pawl when the tumbler gear is meshed wlth the driven gear, said means and pawl serving to maintain the crack out of engagement with the tumbler gear when the latter movesin a" demeshing direction to aI-predeternnncd extent, and means for limiting translatory movement of the latter predetermined meshedand demeshed positions" with respect to the driven gear, a sprin-g tending to cause the carrier to move in a demeshing direction, astop for, limiting movement of the carrier infthe latter di1rection, a pivoted rack for engagement with the tumbler geaiuwhen the latter is in ,demeshed pesitioma pawl pivotallyconnected to. the

'racl; and having a depending portion which for the tumbler gear for limitextends inwardly toward the driven gear demeshing movement of the carrier and of and terminates in a lower abutment surface, the tumbler gear to a predetermined extent means for limiting angular movement of the to maintain the rack out of engagement with pawl about its axis due to the weight of its the tumbler gear, and means for moving the v 5 depending end, a portion carried by the earrack toward the tumbler gear when said 15 rier and having an upper abutment surface portion and pawl are disengaged.

adapted to be brought into cooperation with In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my the lower abutn'ient surface of the pawl when signature this 20th day of June, 1925.

the tumbler gear is meshed with the driven v i l0 gear, said portion and pawl serving during JOHN A'. MCGREW. 

